The birth of the most impactful children's series in television history is chronicled in Director Marilyn Agrelo’s new documentary feature, Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street.
Inspired by the book by Michael Davis, Agrelo's Street Gang takes us inside the minds and hearts of the artists, writers, producers, and educators who created Sesame Street. The film concentrates on the most experimental and groundbreaking period of the series and reveals not only how a gang of visionary creators changed our world, but also what it was like to be at the center of a cultural and social phenomenon.
On September 28, the DGA Eastern Region Special Projects Committee’s Documentary Series held a special screening of Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street in the DGA's New York Theater. Following the screening, Agrelo discussed the making of the film in a conversation moderated by Director Annetta Marion (Park Slope Moms). During the conversation, she spoke about the daunting responsibility she faced.
“Sesame Street is so ingrained in people's hearts. They've carried the memories that they have of this show throughout their whole lives. How do you take something that is so universally in people's hearts and minds and do it justice? We left so many things on the cutting room floor, so many stories that we couldn't tell. What we really wanted to tell was the story that people don't know, the story of the people behind it and the love they had for each other and the activism that gave birth to the show. We were surprised at how much we didn't know about Sesame Street and these are the things that we wanted to really tell the world.”
In addition to Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street, Agrelo's filmography includes the feature film, An Invisible Sign; the documentary feature, Mad Hot Ballroom; and episodes of Sesame Street, The Electric Company and The Untold Stories of Motherhood.
Agrelo has been a DGA member since 2006 and has served on the Focus on Women Committee and as an alternate on the Eastern Directors Council.
You can listen to Agrelo's Q&A by clicking the podcast episode embedded below. You can find more DGA podcast episodes here.